---
title: "Test an injury against the Victorian serious-injury gateway"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/test-an-injury-against-the-statutory-threshold-for-benefits-or-damages/victoria"
type: "task_jurisdiction_version"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "A21-WR20261022-1-VIC"
practice_area: "Personal Injury & Compensation (workers compensation, CTP/TAC, medical negligence)"
tier: "yellow"
lawyer_review: "required"
jurisdictions: ["VIC"]
last_reviewed: "2026-10-25"
---

# Test an injury against the Victorian serious-injury gateway

> From the diagnoses and the impairment assessment the lawyer supplies, set the injury against the serious-injury definition the lawyer names.…

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/test-an-injury-against-the-statutory-threshold-for-benefits-or-damages/victoria  
Last reviewed: 2026-10-25

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Practice area | [Personal Injury & Compensation (workers compensation, CTP/TAC, medical negligence)](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation.md) |
| Human involvement | Yellow: Lawyer and AI draft together |
| How AI is used | From the diagnoses and the impairment assessment the lawyer supplies, set the injury against the serious-injury definition the lawyer names. The tool does not decide that the injury is serious or that damages may be brought. |
| What the lawyer must review | Section 93(17): cover serious long-term impairment or loss of a body function, and permanent serious disfigurement. Also cover severe long-term mental or behavioural disturbance or disorder, and loss of a foetus. Treat 30 per cent or more as deemed serious. Under 30 per cent, damages proceedings need a certificate or court leave. For work, use section 325 and section 335, not section 93. This is not the Part VBA test. |
| Written for | Victoria |
| Applies to | [Test an injury against the statutory threshold for benefits or damages](https://ailawframework.com/practice/personal-injury-and-compensation/test-an-injury-against-the-statutory-threshold-for-benefits-or-damages.md) |

## Checking plan

**Verify against sources**

The lawyer decides which gateway applies and whether the injury meets it.

- What the AI does: From the diagnoses and the impairment assessment the lawyer supplies, set the injury against the serious-injury definition the lawyer names. The tool does not decide that the injury is serious or that damages may be brought.
- What the lawyer does: Choose the Act, decide whether the injury is serious, and decide whether a certificate or leave is required.
- Who reviews: Lawyer competent in this practice area
- Basis: Checked against the linked sources on 23 October 2026. Confirm the current instrument before reliance.

## Checks the lawyer makes

1. Use section 93(17) only for a transport accident. The narrative test is serious long-term impairment, permanent serious disfigurement, severe long-term mental or behavioural disturbance or disorder, or loss of a foetus.
2. Section 93(3) deems the injury serious only where the Commission has determined the degree under section 46A, 47(7) or 47(7A) at 30 per cent or more.
3. For a workplace injury, section 325 uses permanent serious impairment, permanent serious disfigurement, permanent severe mental or behavioural disturbance or disorder, or loss of a foetus. Section 335(1) deems 30 per cent or more serious.
4. Do not apply the Part VBA figures of more than 5 per cent, 5 per cent for the spine, or 10 per cent for psychiatric injury. Section 28LC takes transport-accident and Part 5 workplace claims outside that Part.

## Notes

- Authorised Transport Accident Act version 158, effective 2 October 2026, was read for section 93. The serious-injury definition matched the text used here.
- WorkSafe says dust-related workplace common law claims have a different path from 2 October 2026. Do not use the ordinary section 335 steps for those claims without the current Act.
- Keep health, wage and scheme records in a firm-controlled tool. Apply ASCR r 9 and APP 11, and consider whether any breach is notifiable under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth).

## Practical guide

Jurisdiction: Transport Accident Act 1986 (Vic) section 93, or Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 (Vic) sections 325 and 335

**Deliverable**: A comparison of the injury with the definition the lawyer has named. Not a certificate and not a leave application.

**Inputs**

- Diagnoses and any impairment determination
- Whether the claim is a transport accident or a workplace injury
- The current section 93 or sections 325 and 335

**Example**: Illustrative example: The Commission has assessed impairment at 18 per cent after a transport accident. The table records that section 93(3) does not deem the injury serious and that section 93(4) requires a certificate or leave. The lawyer decides whether to apply. The tool does not draft the application.

**Stop and escalate when**

- No impairment determination is on the file and the table still says the 30 per cent deeming applies.
- The table uses Part VBA percentages for a transport-accident or workplace damages gateway.

Checked 2026-10-23.

## Sources

- [Transport Accident Act 1986 (Vic), authorised version 158](https://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/in-force/acts/transport-accident-act-1986/158) (checked 2026-10-23)
- [Transport Accident Act 1986 (Vic), section 93](https://classic.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/taa1986204/s93.html) (checked 2026-10-23)
- [Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 (Vic), section 325](https://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/wiraca2013484/s325.html) (checked 2026-10-23)
- [Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 (Vic), section 335](https://www5.austlii.edu.au/au/legis/vic/consol_act/wiraca2013484/s335.html) (checked 2026-10-23)

## Forms and precedents for this task

| Form or precedent | Kind | AI level | Summary |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Request to the Transport Accident Commission for a serious injury certificate](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/vic-tac-serious-injury-certificate-request.md) | Letter | Yellow | Letter asking the Transport Accident Commission to determine impairment and, if it is under 30 per cent, to issue a serious injury certificate for a common law damages claim. |
| [Material for a Victorian WorkSafe Medical Panel](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/victorian-worksafe-medical-panel-material.md) | Letter | Yellow | Index and statutory questions for a Medical Panel under the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013, for an impairment dispute or a court referral. |
| [Material for a Victorian Wrongs Act Medical Panel](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/victorian-wrongs-act-medical-panel-material.md) | Letter | Yellow | Claimant's index where a respondent may refer a significant-injury question to a Medical Panel, which states whether the threshold is met and not a percentage. |
| [Permanent impairment claim form (SIRA): lump sum workers compensation](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/form-nsw-sira-permanent-impairment-claim.md) | Form | Yellow | Link to SIRA's permanent impairment claim form, with the form's own threshold words set beside the 11% and 15% figures on SIRA's current permanent impairment page. |
| [TAC serious injury application form (Common Law Protocols 2026): completion guide](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/form-vic-tac-serious-injury-application.md) | Form | Yellow | Guide to the TAC form lawyers use to request a serious injury certificate under Part 6 of the Transport Accident Act 1986 and the Common Law Protocols 2026, including the section 93(17) limbs and… |
| [TAC impairment application form (Impairment Assessment Protocols 2026): completion guide](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/form-vic-tac-impairment-application.md) | Form | Yellow | Guide to the TAC form lawyers use to request an impairment assessment under Part 3 of the Transport Accident Act 1986 and the Impairment Assessment Protocols 2026. |
| [Index for a NSW Personal Injury Commission medical assessment](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/nsw-pic-medical-assessment-bundle.md) | Letter | Yellow | Working index and list of matters for a Personal Injury Commission medical assessment, in the workers compensation or motor accidents division, not a letter to the assessor. |
| [TAC common law time limit notification form: completion guide](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/form-vic-tac-common-law-time-limit.md) | Form | Yellow | Guide to the TAC form used when a serious injury certificate application will be lodged outside the six-year period in the Limitation of Actions Act 1958, under the Common Law Protocol 2026. |
| [Non-economic loss workings](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/non-economic-loss-workings.md) | Other | Yellow | Workings for pain and suffering and loss of amenities: the Victorian threshold and gazetted cap, the Queensland injury scale for 2026–27, and the New South Wales proportion of a most extreme case. |
| [Request that a NSW CTP insurer concede impairment greater than 10 per cent](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/nsw-mai-damages-impairment-concession.md) | Letter | Yellow | Letter asking a New South Wales CTP insurer to concede that permanent impairment from a motor accident is greater than 10 per cent, and recording the section 6.14 time for a damages claim. |
| [NSW work injury damages: claim letter and pre-filing checklist](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/nsw-work-injury-damages-prefiling.md) | Letter | Yellow | Letter to a New South Wales workers compensation insurer claiming work injury damages, with a checklist for the section 315 pre-filing statement.… |
| [WorkSafe worker's claim for impairment benefits: completion guide](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/form-vic-worksafe-impairment-benefits.md) | Form | Yellow | Link to the WorkSafe form a worker uses to claim compensation for permanent impairment from a work injury, which the claims manual treats as a non-economic loss claim. |
| [Victorian WorkSafe impairment benefit: stability checklist](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/vic-worksafe-impairment-benefit-checklist.md) | Checklist | Yellow | Checklist and short letter asking a WorkSafe agent to assess a permanent impairment benefit once the injury is stable. The public page states no percentage, so this checklist states none. |
| [WorkSafe Form A, application for common law damages: completion guide](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/personal-injury-and-compensation/form-vic-worksafe-form-a-common-law.md) | Form | Yellow | Guide to WorkSafe Form A for an application under section 328 of the Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Act 2013 or section 134AB(4) of the Accident Compensation Act 1985. |

Signed-in accounts can read the full text of each one.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*